Badge #C - Chapter 3

Picture By: Tuchodi - Flickr 

In the book we are described by The People Learn Series  as “ Goal- Directed agents who actively seek information.” We wake up every day with a goal in mind to be able to achieve something. We are aware that to attain it we must learn and educate ourselves. Therefore this is why I am in this class to educate myself on how to become a 21^st century teacher. Kids are just like adults their current goals are not as big but as an educator we need to understand this child has goals maybe not as big but we are giving the child knowledge to apply in the world when they have their goals. The child also seeks information when something intrigues them. For example if they want to know why their tooth fell, they are seeking information because that is their current goal; to figure out why their tooth came out. Which brings me into three concepts that I found interesting the two types of learning, four teaching methods, and lastly online problem solving environments.

Something I am passionate about is to understand how a child thinks, so I can achieve the concept of teaching. Active learning is vital to a child. "Active Learning means the students are physically and cognitively involved in the learning process, personally doing something to compare and contrast ideas and information rather than just listening or watching videos or reading.” I feel this will always be the greatest way for a child to learn because it is not going through one ear and going out the other, They are not watching a video where they just stare at it pretending to understand or pay attention to it and even read and not understand or reflect on what they have learned. I believe that with the concept active learning it engages the child, therefore they understand and as an educator you can try to figure out where the child can improve. I have been, for a school project,asking questions to students in different technical areas to understand what is that they enjoy from the program they are taking and the answer always is the hands on learning. One thing I came across while looking up examples of active learning was IXL. This program engages students and provides explanations so the student knows where they stand, I believe this form of engagement using technology is a good example of active learning.
  Another method is metacognitive where the child reflects on what they know or do not know, to understand where they stand and what it is they need to learn. Reflection is important because in my believe it is good to think back and gather up and make even more sense of what was learned, it gives time to digest information.

The second concept I chose was methods to engage students. The four methods are One-on-One tutoring, Learning groups, Inquiry learning, metacognitive learning. To me the most important is the One-to-One tutoring. I think this is it because as a teacher teaching to a group might work for some and maybe an individual might not understand but the lesson at that point needs to keep moving forward. I feel that it is important to give that one student or student’s that one on one so they are able to keep up. I know that kids do not learn at the same speed. Working in an after school program I do see this. For example I might explain their homework and there is always a handful who do not understand what it is they are supposed to be doing. I explain once more or a lot more and there are kids who just need that one on one and it is important because if that is not provided the child will not learn. Making them fall behind. Ultimately I believe that every kid needs an opportunity to have one on one to see where they stand and as an educator see where we need to focus more.

Lastly, I want to reflect on online learning environments. A child should be able to achieve this by playing educational games and interactive simulations. Online learning I think can happen by playing games, sometimes the child does not realize they are learning because they are enjoying it so much. I remember as a kid I will play coolmathgames for kids. I would play a game called bloxorz which is game where the purpose was to get a cube through a hole using certain patterns. Little did I know I was being a problem solver. I was being challenged and wanted to find a solution. I find this important because when a child is using the internet it shouldn’t just to be on social media or play on friv but it should be to grasp skills such as problem solving skills. I know that there are environments online where this can be achieved.

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Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. 

 

IXL Classroom Spotlight: Town & Country Christian Academy. (n.d.). Retrieved September 17, 2015.